Editing: Black & White Format

As our music video is mostly composed in a black and white format throughout, we had to make sure each shot was colour graded correctly to show a sense of flow. For example, making sure all the shots looked similar in terms of the light exposure levels and tone of shade which is shown. We decided to do this process manually as we wanted to make sure the whites or blacks were not too dark or light. We used the colour corrector tool to match up each shot with the correct saturation adjustments and level of blacks and whites which were expressed on the footage.

Colour Corrector Tool

Research & Planning: Editing & Effects

To achieve the best effects and editing techniques, I did extra research into specific effects and transitions which we may choose to convey in our music video. I mostly found tutorials on YouTube which gave me the opportunity to learn new skills in the process of making these edits and adjustments to our footage. I found this video, which illustrates how you can have the background of your footage in black and white and still have the foreground of the visual image in colour, for example, with our powder paint close up shots, we wanted to achieve this effect as the colour red connotes the artist's feelings.

Video that I found: [Colour Separation]

Research & Planning: Storyboard

Research & Planning: Shooting Schedule

Regarding our schedule towards the dates and times which we planned for our days of filming our music video, we came across some problems as some group members turned out to be busy on our set dates. After talking with each other we made a shooting schedule to keep our group in a organised structure so we didn't get confused. Eventually, we were all able to do the 4th August, so we gathered all of our equipment together, got hold of our artist and started filming in our set locations. With all honesty, our group could have been more organised in this situation.

Forest Location

Furthermore, while editing our music video with the current footage that we had, we discovered that we needed to re-shoot some specific shots to make them look more professional. In addition, we needed to add another location to make our music video more interesting, engaging the viewer as we only used two locations and in one, there was no depth of field composed with the artist, portraying an empty and basic look. The extra location we decided to use was a forest setting, where we were able to have a clear depth of field between the artist and background scenery.

Research & Planning: Re-Shooting Footage

As some parts of our footage were not to a high enough standard in terms of fitting in with the conventions of a music video, it drove us to plan out what we needed to re-shoot. We planned a separate shot list which we could use on the day so we went prepared and shot exactly what we need efficiently and on time. In particular, we needed to re-film our tracking shoots with the artist as our old footage cut her head out of the frame several times; making our footage look jerky. In order to carry this out, we considered using a dolly, but didn't go through with the concept as we liked the handheld camera affect, as it fit in with the genre of our music video.We also concluded that we needed an extra location to show variation, so we marked down a schedule for what days we can do and which day is designated for the specific locations.

Another aspect which we wanted to include in our music video, is the stereotypical powder paint element which is conveyed in music videos. I saw it various times when analysing some music videos and I thought it would look really effective in our video; there is even a line which it links to where we can fit in our visuals and lyrics relating to each other - conforming Andrew Goodwin's theory. Later that day, we went to one of our groups houses and experimented the impact of smashing real glass, we were extremely careful as the health and safety issue linked with this process is very high. As a result, we got a good shot and on top of everything else, it looked realistic and conforms the style of our genre, emphasising the indie / urban theme. I took some photos on location (in the subway) to portray the specific elements of what we did on the day:

We mostly used mid-shots and close-up shots for our powder paint shots.

Our group getting ready to blow powder paint in front of the camera.

Extreme close-up shot of artist singing.

Artist blowing powder paint into the camera.

Artist dressed in a vintage styled outfit.

I also took a short video, of our tracking shot which we re-shot to make sure the artist sang the song more passionately and kept her face in the frame of the shot. We needed to think through the composition, making sure it visually looked good as well as everything else.

Lesson: Organising Footage

In yesterday's lesson, we carried on arranging our footage on Final Cut Pro and editing them to the correct duration's in order to create a sense of flow. For some features of our music video, we decided to subvert the general conventions, but in an effective way. We also started to match up the footage of where the artist is singing the song, with the original track of the song playing on the timeline.

For shots that focus more on the props that we used in the video, we wanted to mix up the way we use some shots that visually link to the lyrics, add to the climaxed parts of the song or during the instrumental melody. For this particular shot shown in the photo, we accurately matched the flame from the lighter to the lyrics which state: "burns in the distances higher." 

Research & Planning: Shot List